The Movie Junkie - Killers

2nd dose!

First things first, I absolutely love Katherine Heigl.When she plays a role, her acting reels me right into that scenario. I can watch 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth over and over and over again and I won't get sick of it. She is one of the very few actresses that I actually favor. "Very few" actually comprises of Katherine Heigl, Scarlet Johannson, Amy Adams and Isla Fisher.

The way Ms. Heigl delivers her lines with obvious effort of about 150% plus the appropriate emotions, I get hooked. The minute I saw her on the Killers poster, I knew I had to watch it.

I'll try to be extremely light on the spoilers.

Synopsis: Trying to recover from a sudden break-up, Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) believes she’ll never fall in love again. But when she reluctantly joins her parents on a trip to the French Riviera, Jen happens to meet the man of her dreams, the dashing, handsome Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher). Three years later, her seemingly impossible wish has come true: she and Spencer are newlyweds living the ideal suburban life – that is, until the morning after Spencer’s 30th birthday when bullets start flying. Literally.

It turns out Spencer never bothered to tell Jen he’s also an international super-spy, and now Jen's perfect world has been turned upside down. Faced with the fact that her husband is a hit man, Jen is determined to discover what other secrets Spencer might be keeping – all the while trying to dodge bullets, keep up neighborly appearances, manage the in-laws…and work out some major trust issues.

I'm not a fan of Ashton Kutcher - blame 4 years of Punk'd - but he's one hell of an actor. My eyes popped just 10 minutes into the movie - I never noticed how hot he actually is - but forget the eye-popping, my jaw dropped when he put on a serious face and jumped right into action. I've always associated Ashton with comedies - that was before I 'wikipedia-ed' him - turns out he played an airman in The Guardian. How was I to know? Ashton's a good comedian but producers, do not be afraid to send some action-drama scripts his way. You never know, you might just produce one hell of a blockbuster.

I wasn't too enthusiastic about the plotline though. What can you expect from a movie that's merely 1 hour and 40 mins long? And that's including credits. And whadya know, I was right: The plotline was a killer. Boy's a hired assassin, meets girl, falls in love, quits job then gets pulled back into it and girl gets dragged along. I don't like plots that are too fast-paced - not as much as I hate the ones that drag on too long though. The plot's good, but the rundown was faster than a ride on the Abyss. I figured it out halfway through, or maybe it's just me. It lacked mystery. The momentum was lost a couple of times along the way, leaving the climax rather flat.

A couple of action scenes got my votes, I'll give you that. They weren't top-notch, but not too shabby, not too shabby at all. I favor close combat over shootouts; they're so much more thrilling and have a knack of sending you over to the edge of your seat. Plus after what TPTB did for the CSI: New York finale might just make me dislike guns.

But let's not forget that this is still a comedy. With Ms. Heigl's and Mr. Kutcher's acting and the witty script, you won't be ending this movie with a frown.

Story: C

Acting: B-

Direction: B-

Visuals: B-

Average: B-

- Messer Girl